Transport Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said today bus fares will be reduced by 4 per cent from midnight December 26.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been sent back to jail after a fresh corruption conviction, BBC reported a short while ago. The anti-corruption court in Islamabad has given Sharif a seven-year term for investments beyond his declared assets.

The government programmes which came to a standstill during the past 52 days will be resumed to ensure the country's national security, State Minister of Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene said.  

The UNP should play its second innings politics after the recent political crisis carefully and diligently since there is a little left for it, newly appointed Non Cabinet Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Ajith P. Perera said today.

Twenty-five Attorneys-at-law will swear in as President’s Counsel (PC) on January 18 at a ceremonial sitting of the Supreme Court. The swearing-in as President’s Counsel is also known as 'taking silk'.

Following the torrential rains in the Northern Province, troops of the Army and Navy rushed into relief and rescue missions in the districts of Mullaitivu and Killnochchi which were worst affected by the inclement weather condition.

The government has decided to seek the opinion of the Attorney General on the possibility of increasing the Cabinet of Ministers to 32 according to what they say is included in the Constitution, it is learnt.

A 28-year-old suspect was arrested with 1 kg of heroin which has the street value of Rs. 12 million at Dematapitiya in Marawila last evening, police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.

All liquor shops across the country would be closed tomorrow in view of Christmas Day, the Excise Department said today. It said legal action would be taken against those who keep their shops open by violating the laws.

A 22-year-old suspect who was in remand custody at the Kuruwita Prisons is alleged to have committed suicide in his cell yesterday evening, Prisons Spokesman T.N. Upuldeniya said.

More than 45,000 people from nearly 14,000 families had been affected due to the heavy rains and floods in all the five districts of the Northern Province, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said. The affected districts are Mullaithivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya and Jaffna.

A fire has been reported at a factory at Vauxhall Street in Colombo a short while ago, the Fire brigade said.

At least 168 people have been killed and 745 injured after a tsunami hit coastal towns on Indonesia's Sunda Strait, government officials say.

Eleven Chinese nationals, working at a construction site at Chatham Street, Colombo were arrested following a clash with a group of Sri Lankan Security Personnel at the site on Saturday.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was looking for loopholes in the Constitution to increase the number of ministers in the Cabinet and had violated the Constitution by sending a list of 35 names to the President to be appointed as ministers.

Against the backdrop of the recent political crisis, the Constitutional Council (CC) and President Maithripala Sirisena are reported to be on a collision course over the appointments of judges to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

A majority of those who were appointed to the Cabinet are corrupt, UPFA MP Shehan Semasinghe said yesterday.

JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake said yesterday the verdict of the Supreme Court on the dissolution of parliament should be made available to MPs and the people in all three languages and said the SC verdict had rescued the country from an impending international trap.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday, that in January, he would make a statement in Parliament on the appointment of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The elections to all nine Provincial Councils (PC) will be held on the same day without further delay, Internal and Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Minister Vajira Abeywardane said yesterday.

Dr.  Harsha de Silva  was sworn  in as the Non-Cabinet Minister of Economic Reform and Public Distribution before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat a short while ago.  

At a meeting held under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena today, a decision had been taken to expedite a forensic audit into the Central Bank bond scam, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.  

Lanka IOC has also reduced prices of fuel with effect from midnight today. Accordingly, the price of a litre of petrol 92 and premium 95 would be reduced by Rs.10.

President Maithripala Sirisena today appointed new Secretaries to some 30 Ministries.Hemasiri Fernando was appointed as the Secretary of Defence Ministry, Ms. S.M.Mohammed was appointed as the Secretary of Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs Ministry and V. Shivagnanasothi was appointed as the Secretary of Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison reforms,

Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa today urged the government to be more people-friendly when taking economic decisions without blindly following the instructions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

UPFA MP Roshan Ranasinghe yesterday said they have only applied for the membership of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) but they have not yet received the membership.

The Vote on Account to cover the expenditures of the first four months of 2019 was presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera today.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres yesterday called on all political actors in Sri Lanka to seize the opportunity of the appointment of the new Cabinet to resolve outstanding political differences.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Bimal Ratnayake said in parliament today that they were not in a position to support the Vote on Account (VOA).

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya today announced in Parliament that he had decided to delay his ruling on the post of Opposition Leader because of fresh submissions made by some MPs.The Speaker was supposed to give a ruling on this matter today.  

Japan said, as a long-standing friend, it welcomes the recent development towards political stability in Sri Lanka including the appointment of the new cabinet through due process in accordance with the law.

Home Affairs Minister Varija Abeywardene said yesterday a dispute arose as to how Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka as a retired military officer could work with President Maithripala Sirisena as the Commander in Chief of the Armed forces.

SriLankan Airlines management had assigned former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) S. A. Chandrasekara to formulate two business plans in 2008 and 2010 but none of the recommendations made through the business plans had been implemented, former CFO S. A. Chandrasekara informed the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into irregularities at SriLankan Airlines, SriLankan Catering and Mihin Lanka yesterday.

UPFA MP Ranjith Zoysa and three others were remanded till January 1 in connection with an assault on a person on December 16 in Godakawela, police said.

Three Russian Naval ships; Varyag, Admiral Panteleev and Boris Butoma arrived at the Colombo Port today on a four-day goodwill visit, the Navy said.